New approach.

[Okiejoebronco25]

2nd go at it. Definitely got temp better figured out. Stacked charcoal tighter and lit from edge. Brought to 250 and held nice. A bit ambitious I know. My theory if firing up. Fill the grate.

 

[BigW.]

It's gonna be a good day...

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

2nd go at it. Definitely got temp better figured out. Stacked charcoal tighter and lit from edge. Brought to 250 and held nice. A bit ambitious I know. My theory if firing up. Fill the grate.

Got my alarms set.

 

[Astralogics]

Looks like you're in for some great 'que!

 

[912smoker]

Off to a great start!

Keith

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Chicken came out awesome. Gonna throw some seasoned cream cheese soon. So thrilled I haven’t touched it in 4 hours and temp rock steady. Allowing me to multitask. Getting my daughters game room done

 

[OldSmoke]

Fill the grate.

I agree! I hate seeing empty space in the smoker!

Thats a nice looking rack.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

I agree! I hate seeing empty space in the smoker!

Thats a nice looking rack.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Very very happy with my new Bronco. 8 hours in and holding 250 rock solid. This thing makes an amateur cook like a pro. Chicken great, ribs better than anything I’ve eaten in a restaurant and even smoked cream cheese. Still going strong with the chuck roast.

 

[912smoker]

Glad you've got it dailed in and a great cook. We love some smoked CC with pepper jelly and a Ritz cracker! Or topped with a rib glaze.

Keith

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Glad you've got it dailed in and a great cook. We love some smoked CC with pepper jelly and a Ritz cracker! Or topped with a rib glaze.

Keith

Which seasoning did you put in your cream cheese, we were having a hard time deciding what would go good, and dang pepper jelly sounds good. I remember being at a whiskey event. They had batch made mango habanero and peach habanero. That were amazing. We did one of each of these.

 

[912smoker]

Which seasoning did you put in your cream cheese, we were having a hard time deciding what would go good, and dang pepper jelly sounds good. I remember being at a whiskey event. They had batch made mango habanero and peach habanero. That were amazing. We did one of each of these.

Use a lot of different ones but the crowd favorites are Meat Church Holy Voodoo,
Health Riles Cajun Creole Garlic Butter and Everything Bagel.
Lane's Island Dust
And yes....I smoke A LOT of CC!

Keith

 

[dietspam]

Very very happy with my new Bronco. 8 hours in and holding 250 rock solid. This thing makes an amateur cook like a pro. Chicken great, ribs better than anything I’ve eaten in a restaurant and even smoked cream cheese. Still going strong with the chuck roast.

Were you only using the thermometer on the OKJ Bronco or an external thermometer for ambient temps? I've heard that thing, like many built in bbq thermometers, is very inaccurate.

I just got my bronco and hoping to fire it up this weekend. Hopefully I'll have as much success as you did.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Were you only using the thermometer on the OKJ Bronco or an external thermometer for ambient temps? I've heard that thing, like many built in bbq thermometers, is very inaccurate.

I just got my bronco and hoping to fire it up this weekend. Hopefully I'll have as much success as you did.

It was pretty accurate in the 250 to 275 range at 300. It was off by about 40 to 50° the first two cooks. I use just that thermometer it’s consistent just not 100% accurate so once you learn, it will be fine however I do have an external Thermo works smoke X2 that I compared it against

 

[dietspam]

It was pretty accurate in the 250 to 275 range at 300. It was off by about 40 to 50° the first two cooks. I use just that thermometer it’s consistent just not 100% accurate so once you learn, it will be fine however I do have an external Thermo works smoke X2 that I compared it against

that's awesome. I'm hoping for similar results. if it's off, I hope it's consistently off like my old electric smoker was. High reliability, poor accuracy I can deal with.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

that's awesome. I'm hoping for similar results. if it's off, I hope it's consistently off like my old electric smoker was. High reliability, poor accuracy I can deal with.

Yes, I feel very comfortable with it being consistent, I used it only for my first two cooks. One was all day at 275. The second was all day at 2:50 and that cook went 10 hours without touching a vent and the gauge never moved very happy with this smoker. I’m a complete noob so it’s really good that it’s easy to use.

 

[dietspam]

I have it lit right now. Built in thermometer looks like it's about 50 degrees off. I playing around with the air intake and exhaust, but can't seem to get the temps down to 250. Guessing that i have air seeping in somewhere. Should have done this earlier with daylight.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

I have it lit right now. Built in thermometer looks like it's about 50 degrees off. I playing around with the air intake and exhaust, but can't seem to get the temps down to 250. Guessing that i have air seeping in somewhere. Should have done this earlier with daylight.

It will run with both fully closed. Try stack on #1 and intake about 1/4 of 1. I assume you did initial season? Also only light about 8-10 coals starting on side. My first time I had too much charcoal and too much burning at a time.

 

[dietspam]

It will run with both fully closed. Try stack on #1 and intake about 1/4 of 1. I assume you did initial season? Also only light about 8-10 coals starting on side. My first time I had too much charcoal and too much burning at a time.

Last night was my seasoning burn. It topped out at around 450 and I adjusted the intake so it hovered around 400 for a bit. Lowered it to around 1/4 intake and it stabilized at around 270. "too much charcoal" was exactly what I was thinking last night or possibly to use briquettes instead of lump charcoal (next experiment).

I closed both vents and sure enough i had leftover charcoal this morning so probably no huge leaks in the system like I was concerned about. Been smoking on electric so long that I forgot how great the charcoal burn smells.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Last night was my seasoning burn. It topped out at around 450 and I adjusted the intake so it hovered around 400 for a bit. Lowered it to around 1/4 intake and it stabilized at around 270. "too much charcoal" was exactly what I was thinking last night or possibly to use briquettes instead of lump charcoal (next experiment).

I closed both vents and sure enough i had leftover charcoal this morning so probably no huge leaks in the system like I was concerned about. Been smoking on electric so long that I forgot how great the charcoal burn smells.

I am a new B as well lots of help on this page so far I have learned and haven’t tried that lump definitely burns hotter than charcoal